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February 23, 2005 Commentât
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StudentPoll;
libere is jour
favorite placed
study?
WTF? No WMDs!
Isaiah Creai
Editor-in-Chief
It has been said that true
freedom is not the right to do
what we want, but the want
to do what is right; I would
therefore be remiss as a jour
nalist, nay a patriot, if I let
the issue of weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq pass with
out comment.
America’s stated purpose
for involvement in Iraq has,
from day one, been to keep
weapons of mass destruc
tion out of the hands of ter
rorists. When U.N. weap
ons inspectors were denied
access to some of Saddam
Hussein’s factories, America
saw it as proof positive that
somewhere amongst the sands
there were nuclear, biological
or chemical weapons.
But soon after our troops
set foot in Iraq, the focus of
our efforts seemed to switch
from eliminating leaders who
hoarded WMDs to making Iraq
a free nation and a safe haven
for democracy. The only thing
about our involvement in Iraq
that has remained static is
President Bush’s resolve to
sustain an American presence
therein.
Under the guise of punish
ing terrorists, who are said to
still be in Afghanistan, U.S.
troops have committed atro
cious acts on Iraqi prison
ers, .with minimal response
or outrage from Americans
and only one person involved
facing serious charges. The
American public seems to lose
interest in things that make
the United States appear, from
a global standpoint, as bullies
or hypocrites.
I don’t know Mr. Bush as a
person; I haven’t met him on
the street, borrowed his lawn
mower, or asked his daugh
ter on a date. What I have
deduced from watching his
interviews and.staring into his
eyes from thousands of miles
away is that he has lied to us.
It seems that the majority
of Americans have forgotten
just what put our soldiers (our
brothers, sisters, friends and
neighbors) into the line of
fire.
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO
BE LOOKING FOR NUKES!
WHERE THE HELL ARE
THE NUKES?!?
zThe media demonized
former President Clinton
for screwing an intern and
lying about it, but Bush’s lies
screwed all of us. He pushed
the issue by claiming that he
was making America safe from
nuclear terrorists; his decision
resulted in the deaths of thou
sands of American troops...
and there were no weapons of
mass destruction.
His foreign policy has not
only alienated Americans, but
made us seem a country of
hypocritical, apathetic twits.
I’m no twit; are you?
For some reason, many
Americans think that Saddam
Hussein was the one who
felled the towers, and Bush
doesn’t do much to dissuade
this belief. People are more
outraged in Britain over Bush
misleading us than we are.
I have no clue why we
really went to Iraq. Was it for
WMDs? Was it for terrorist
leaders? Was it to liberate
oppressed people? Was it for
oil? Was it a personal ven
detta? Was it Halliburton? I
have no clue whatsoever, and
honestly, it is more important
to me that I be told the truth.
What does matter to me is
that I was misled. I thought
that Iraq was chock full of
chemical weapons. I thought
that radiation from secret fac
tories was leaking into the
school lunches, and that ter
rorists were saying “Ni!” to
little old ladies.
Incidentally, we actually
have found many weapons
of mass destruction. They’re
hidden in silos across the
United States.
the library.”
Michelle Isom
because I do four things
once!”.
Kimberly Dodd
Lack of technology leaves students wanting
of time between classes and you
want to grab a snack but only
The Clackamas Print
. have your debit card. You are
then stuck between a rock and
In the cafeteria on cam a hard place, and must choose
pus, it has been brought to either going off-campus, at the
my attention that there is a risk of being late to your
significant problem that many next class, or going
students, myself included, are on with the rest of
faced with on a regular basis. your day without ade-
And no, I’m not talking about quate nutrition.
the quality of the food, but
Now it might seem
IM
rather the fact that they do like I’m being extreme, i|B
not accept anything othqr than but in order to evoke iH
cash as payment.
change, or even a sec- W
This is quite an inconve ond thought, one must
■
nience in an era when plastic h be adamant about their
a
has almost completely replaced feelings.
In a society
1
cash; often you find yourself where such great emphasis
1
without sufficient funds to pay has been placed on easy
for your meal. All restaurants, access to your finances,
and even most fast food joints,, thereby fueling our blatant
now allow you to pay by other capitalist nature, one would
methods of currency.
think one could get away with
It’s quite agitating when you using some plastic to charge
have a short, specified amount for things on campus. Without
MikeGuidlce
this option at our disposal, it
will end up hurting the school 1
more, in the long run, than the
cost to install some
card-swip-
ing mechanism.
By not having other means
for payment it is discourag-
ing students from purchasing
items, which in turn
stunts the income
for the school
and
everyone
involved. If the
school is serious
about wanting
to accommo
date the stu
dents to the
best of their
ability they
should start
by looking
into
this
glaring
inconve
nience.
Installing
new
technology could greatly assist
in the betterment of everyone’s
on-campus experience and it is
something that I believe should
at least be taken into consid
eration.
Want to get published?
Write letters to the editor:
E-mail oped@clackamas.edu or drop by Roger Rook 135 to give us a hand written letter; letters
received will be printed in the next issue after being edited for grammar and clarity.
Jason McNamee
“At home.”
Kylie Osterhoudt
“Upstairs in [Rook
Hall]; I come up here and read
Ryan Stanley
This week’s poll compiled b)\
Pia^isi and Stephen EM